WASHINGTON — Congressman Ed Perlmutter has known Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Gifford since they served in their respective state houses years ago. In a floor speech today, he said he was having a “hard time processing” her shooting last Saturday at an Arizona grocery store.

Much of the official work here has quieted out of respect of the shooting, which killed six people and injured 14. But the House debated a resolution to pay respects to Rep. Gabby Giffords, who is recovering in a Tucson hospital.

Giffords’ constituent outreach events were “so successful that she had the littlest, most innocent person, in Christina Taylor, a 9-year-old, to the most powerful in the chief District Judge John Roll, coming to a very informal setting at a grocery store to talk about America, to talk about their hopes, their desires, their concerns. This is what it’s all about,” Perlmutter said today. “To the grocery stores and the coffee shops and the flea markets, those that provide these venues where people feel comfortable to come and express their views, thank you.”

Perlmutter has done 70 events at grocery stores since 2006 and his staffers are weighing whether to continue those events — one is scheduled for Jan. 29 — or move them somewhere else.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.